Halloweensie Challenge: No Tricks, Just Treats

Susanna Leonard Hill is offering a writing challenge for Halloween, with plenty of treats for several winners. The challenge? Write a story 100 words or less, including the words “pumpkin”, “creak” and “broomstick”. Then paste your blog link in the comments of her post by midnight after you trick or treat this Friday. Read more on her blog.

My entry:

No Tricks, Just Treats

Max loved movies. One day, Max watched a movie about a pumpkin and got an idea.

He tiptoed around the house, collecting what he needed. First, he gathered a piece of orange paper and a hat. Then, he found a broomstick. Last, he grabbed the iPad.

Later, Max displayed his movie. Daddy smiled when the pumpkin dressed as a witch, gasped when a creak frightened her hat off, and chuckled when she lost her broom. Best of all, he hugged Max when another pumpkin helped pick up the hat, find the broom, and offered a Halloween treat.

Max loved movies!

If you participate in the challenge, please leave your story or link in my comments too, so I can be sure to read it. Happy Halloween, friends!

Early enough for Father’s Day! Mighty Dads Blog Tour

My husband and I are expecting our second son at the end of the month, and I’ve been looking for a “new daddy” gift to give him that will commemorate this special day in our lives. I know he’ll be teaching both our boys all that they know about tons of subjects (anything outdoors, I stink at), so Mighty Dads is a great choice! I hope you enjoy the information below about the book by Joan Holub, illustrated by James Dean.

About the Book

Title: Mighty Dads | Author: Joan Holub | Illustrator: James Dean| Publication Date: April 29, 2014 | Publisher: Scholastic | Pages: 40 | Recommended Ages: 3+

Summary: A new constructacular picture book from the New York Times bestselling creator of Pete the Cat, James Dean and bestselling author, Joan Holub.

Mighty dads, strong and tall,

help their children, young and small.

They keep them safe and bolted tight

and show them how to build things right.

A Good (and Bad) look at Washington DC for kids

One of the books Max will open for his third birthday tonight is That’s Good! That’s Bad! In Washington, DC by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Michael Garland. I picked it up for both the fun illustrations and the look into our nation’s capitol.

The story follows its main character The Little Boy on his class trip to the capitol and plots out his adventures in the city, giving kids a fun view of the city and all there is to do there.

The further along in the book I got as I flipped through it, the more I knew Max would enjoy it while learning a lot about this powerful city. The main reason? The Little Boy reminds me a lot of Curious George! He accidentally gets himself into scrapes, just like the little monkey we all know and love.

Thanksgiving snacks and Christmas trees

This year marks the first time I’ll hold Thanksgiving at my house, which is somewhat daunting. My maternal grandparents always used to host until that side of the family grew so much that we couldn’t fit in two rooms of their house. For the past decade, my uncle has had the whole clan over to his house for the holiday. This year, we’re having a day-after-Thanksgiving feast at my house, which is the most central location to a family whose members span three states.

For now, my dilemma is decorating (we’ll worry about the food later on!); do I use fall decor or do I go tree shopping now? I’m leaning toward the tree, since my aunt generally has hers up at this gathering and we have way more Christmas decorations than fall ones. As I was thinking about Christmas trees, The Divine Pine by Tracy M. Novembre caught my eye.

The SockKids Meet Lincoln Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour for The SockKids Meet Lincoln, by Michael John Sullivan and Susan Petrone! Max and I truly enjoyed the story and are excited that it is just one of many SockKids stories.

Scroll down to read a summary of the book, our review, the buzz, and information about the authors. Also, scroll ALL the way to the bottom to enter to win the blog tour giveaway. You could win a Grand Prize consisting of a $25 Amazon gift card (or PayPal cash) + a SockKids t-shirt. There will also be four secondary prizes consisting of a SockKids t-shirt. Once you’ve entered, visit the other blog tour links to find even more reviews about The SockKids Meet Lincoln!

The Mom Dreaming of a Three Year Nap

Every mom has at some point wished she could take a three-year nap. I have not even been a mom for three full years yet, and I know this. Every mom has also at some point wished her child would do a little more around the house. For those with infants: come on, you know you’ve wished your child didn’t fill up diapers quite so fast!

Several times over the past week Max and I have read The Boy of the Three Year Nap written by Dianne Snyder and illustrated by Allen Say. This book has so much going for it! The illustrations are gorgeous, the twist is excellent, and the lesson is perfect.Some of the honors this book has deservedly won include Caldecott Honor Book (1989), ALA Notable Children’s Book (1988), and Boston Globe/Horn Book Award (1988).

Kid Lit Blog Hop #6

Welcome to the 6th Kid Lit Blog Hop. These Hops take place on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Thank you so much to everyone who has linked into the Hop previously and welcome to those of you visiting us for the first time! Every week we’ve been seeing a mix of new and familiar faces. So join in, link up, and hop around to make some new friends.

The Holiday season is coming up fast and it is a busy, busy, busy time of year for all of us; therefore, we will only be having ONE Hop this month. You’ll see us back at it on the SECOND Wednesday of January – that’s the 9th! For just the month of January, the Hops will take place on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month.

Image-ination Saturday

The Miami Book Fair has been so much fun! I helped give away scores of books today and yesterday, and I’ve gotten to pick up some children’s books to take home to Max. Below are some of the sights I’ve seen over the past few days:

Drummers rocking the stage.

I’m having so much fun! More photos tomorrow.

I’ve got BIG PLANS for MAX

I’m linking this post up with the Kid Lit Blog Hop!

Last night we read BIG PLANS by Bob Shea and Lane Smith, and Max sat on my lap the whole way through. THAT is unusual. Usually, we get about 6 pages in and he gets up off my lap to play with a toy while I finish reading aloud. The reason, I think, is that the parts of the book that were all capitalized encouraged me to read them REALLY LOUD, which kept his attention.

What CareBears and apples teach kids

I think it was the CareBears who said “Sharing is caring!”

Apples of Love by Terry Gentry brings to mind this little rhyme for a couple of reasons:

1. The story appears in verse.
2. It relates sharing as the most important lesson for children to learn.